As computers have developed to provide greater capabilities at greater speeds, the ability of a user to interface with that computer has also become much simpler. For example, icons provide a pictorial representation of a function which may be executed by a computer and allow a user to easily access that function with the simple click of a mouse or a stroke of a return key. Additionally, many current software programs use realistic representations of objects to take advantage of a user's experience with the physical world. Therefore, rather than present the user with a series of panels and window frames or pull-down menus, a software program for implementing an application may present a realistically-rendered object which is placed directly on a desktop or other environment.
While such realistic representations enable a user to more easily interface with the computer, the applications which implement the realistically-rendered objects introduce several problems. For example, the ability to resize the object adds additional challenges for designers of the user interface of a computer system. Traditional applications of such objects provide resizing capabilities by allowing the user to drag the edges of a graphical object or the border of a window. An example of such a window is illustrated in display device 100 of FIG. 1. The window is labeled 102. As is illustrated in FIG. 1, windows in prior art graphical user interfaces (G.U.I.) scale in a non-linear fashion. Stated another way, when the user scales a border of the window 102, the contents do not scale and are clipped or scrolled out of view. As is illustrated in FIG. 1, when window 102 is scaled to a smaller size, a type of application illustrated in window 102 is clipped and a user does not have access to all of the data. Additionally, as may be seen by scroll bars 104 and 106, other data is available for observation, but a user must scroll up or down to access the appropriate information. Furthermore, in the prior art implementation illustrated in FIG. 1, a user must scroll in both a horizontal and a vertical direction to access all of the data included in the window. Such clipping and required scrolling activities disrupt both the function and aesthetic layout of the window of the user interface.
As well, it should be noted that in some applications, a user is not able to even resize a window at all. Such an application is illustrated in the prior art user interface of FIG. 2. FIG. 2 provides a window 202 which does not allow a user to resize it according to a user's requirements. Therefore, a user is required to interface with an inflexible graphical user interface.
While the methodologies described above are used universally and allow a user to modify a window size in a non-linear manner, the use of a window-type environment which is non-linear fails to create a functional and aesthetic layout for use in the graphical user interface. Therefore, it is desirable to take advantage of a computer's capabilities for modifying graphical representations without requiring a user to modify their mental model of such objects. For this reason, a data processing system and method should be developed to interact with a user and to provide controls which fit plausibly into a model of the object being represented to the user on the user interface.